The Winnipeg Jets have won four of five. The Calgary Flames have lost six straight.
Two teams going in opposite directions, you’d think -- until you listen to Jets head coach Claude Noel.
“This is a game that we have to be ready to play, I’ll just put it that way,” Noel said prior to tonight’s game in Winnipeg, as per NHL.com. “You can’t look at the standings or anything like that. I think this is a game we have to be ready to play. They have been sitting here waiting for us. We know what they have had to face the whole season and the last game they played, so there’s enough fuel for them to play.”
The Flames are coming off a 4-2 loss to Edmonton, a game they led 2-0 before the Oilers scored four unanswered goals in the third period. It was a tough loss for Calgary to take, especially after getting clobbered 7-3 by Dallas in the game prior.
This ongoing string of consecutive losses has all but erased Calgary’s solid start to the ’13-14 campaign. The Flames head into Monday night’s action sitting second from bottom in the Western Conference and boasting just six wins through the first 20 games.
Of course, Noel was quick to point out that, despite being seven points up on Calgary in the standings, the Jets haven’t exactly set the NHL on fire to start the season.
“It’s not like we’re world-beaters,” he said. “We have to be ready to play.”